Runnymede Collegiate Institute (colloquially known as Runnymede CI, RCI, or Runnymede) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada managed and operated by the Toronto District School Board. The school first opened in 1927 as Runnymede High School by the York Township High School Board, which became the Board of Education for the City of York until 1998.
Runnymede has a population of 500 students and has a variety of course offerings ranging from computer technology to co-operative education, from modern languages to music.
This school is one of the oldest active surviving high schools in the former City of York and is second oldest high school in York, the other being Weston Collegiate Institute to the north. The motto of this school is Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum ("No Steps Back").
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History
Runnymede High School was completed and officially opened on November 11, 1927, by the York High School Township Board, although classes had begun on September 6 for 250 students and a staff of 10 teachers led by Principal Bruce W. Clark. The original Collegiate Gothic building was designed by Charles Wellington Smith and consisted of eight classrooms, three science labs, an auditorium, a library, a gymnasium, a cafeteria and a locker area on three floors. The school adopted the current name, Runnymede Collegiate Institute, in 1928.
Significant additions to the building were completed in 1928, 1958 and 1966. The building now includes over 30 classrooms, a swimming pool, two gyms, computers labs and a large cafeteria.
The school was built on land, which had belonged to John Scarlett. His estate was called "Runnymede" after the field of Runnymede, where King John of England signed Magna Carta. The school's colours, red and white, derive partly from Scarlett's name, and also from the fact that the school opened in the year of Canada's Diamond Jubilee. Owing to their red school jackets, Runnymede students came to be known as Redmen in the 1930s. Over time an Indian head logo was adopted to go with the name. The Redmen name and logo were retired in 1994.
In 1998, RCI became part of the newly amalgamated Toronto District School Board after the dissolution of YBE.
Clubs
Runnymede Collegiate Institute offers a number of different clubs and extracurricular activities.
Some of the activities that have run in recent years are listed below:
Badminton Club
Baseball (boys and girls)
Basketball (varsity, junior and senior)
Black Students Association club
Cheerleading
Cross Country
Dance Club
FIRST Robotics Competition (Robotics) Team 1310
Hockey (co-ed)
Celebration Club
Leadership
Math Club
Mental Health and Wellness Club
GSA Club
Right to Play
Soccer (junior and senior)
Swim Team
Tech Crew
Track and Field
Volleyball (Junior and senior girls, co-ed)
Yearbook Club
Muslim student association
Anime Club
Mountview Alternative School
Mountview Alternative School is a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school that shares space with Runnymede Collegiate Institute and Humbercrest Nursery School. The school was founded in 1983 in the Keele Street Public School building and has approximately 100 students. Mountview was relocated to its present location at Runnymede Collegiate in 2018.
Notable alumni
Frederick George Topham - recipient of the Victoria Cross in World War II
Dwight Drummond - news anchor on CBC Toronto
P. K. Subban - Defenceman, Nashville Predators
Jim Peplinski - Captain of the Calgary Flames during their 1988-89 Stanley Cup Victory
Lori-Ann Muenzer - 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Women's Sprint cycling
James Milton Ham, scientist and 10th President of the University of Toronto
Claude Bissell, Canada's youngest university president
Charlotte Sullivan, actress
Dick Aldridge, Linebacker, Toronto Argonauts & Hamilton Tigercats
Ted Woloshyn, CFRB Radio Host
Howard Moscoe, city councillor
Gayle Christie, former York mayor
Katie Telford, Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Annamie Paul, Leader, Green Party of Canada